GANTZ - Tokyo's Black Sphere of Death
by SugoiMasta'69
Summary: Thought your life was bad? Sometimes, death is worse. There is no salvation, peace, nor god waiting to receive you into their care. When Kaneki is killed, he finds himself thrown into a death game where he has to hunt and kill aliens for the tiniest chance of survival. Through the ordeal, he notices strange new cravings that his body begins to feel. The cravings of a ghoul.
1. Prologue - A Brand New Day Has Arrived

**AU NOTE:** **I forgot about this fanfic lmao. Remembered it after watching Gantz:O (which was lit af btw).**

 **Updates will come either bi-weekly or monthly. (Gonna revise the first chapter though.)**

* * *

A rushing train could be heard through the underground station. Normally, people would be happy at the arrival of their train, but not this time. Some screamed in fear, others stayed silent midst the panic and a few became excited. The latter had prepared their phones to take pictures and videos of the upcoming scene.

The train conductor lifted his coffee mug and took a sip with closed eyes. He was relaxed and began to slow down the train. A bump later and he could feel that the train had ran over something big.

He opened his eyes hesitantly, as he was afraid. The first thing he saw was blood splattered on the window.

His tiny heart couldn't contain the shock. His consciousness was quickly drained out of his body. The mug smashed on the floor and everything else he held was set free.

Explosions echoed the underground train tunnels. Brick, walls and stone collapsed along the part of the tunnel damaged by the explosion.

In the passenger's final moments, everyone screamed.


	2. Chapter 1 - The World of Gantz

**AU NOTE:** **Kaneki will be manga-Kaneki and the same goes for the other characters. So if you only watched the anime and think that some chars are OOC, that's probably why (Both series had horrible adaptations). The only exception of that being Rize, since I intended for her to be OOC (which will make sense, once we hit that point in the story.)**

* * *

Several images flashed before Kaneki, as he stood shocked in total darkness. He was forced to watch the images of his life flash before him, as he couldn't move. When the images vanished, a migraine overwhelmed his head.

The darkness was disrupted by a bright light. Kaneki hadn't been a dark room. He had simply closed his eyes and couldn't open them until now.

He stared at the ceiling, squinting his eyes at lamp's bright light. He averted his eyes away, but was met a face. It was a female with a heart-shaped face and pink lipstick on her plump lips. Her long dark purple hair fell on his body, as she smiled softly. Kaneki realized that she had been sitting on her knees and he was resting on her lap.

'Was she looking after me?'

Kaneki tried to recall previous memories, tried to see if he knew her, but to no avail. Her action was a bit creepy, just as much as it flattered him and made him fluster. He scurried away in embarrassment, as quickly as heat rose to his cheeks.

"Eeeek!" He landed on the wooden floor beside her and noticed other people in the apartment."I- Do I- Where am I?" His voice trembled with stutters. He looked around in search of answers, but ultimately ended up staring at the purple-haired girl.

"What do you mean?" The girl asked with a tilted head.

There were no furnitures inside the apartment, at the very least not in the living room. To the right there were glass doors that hid the balcony, instead of the wooden walls that covered the rest of the apartment. In the middle of the living room, there was a huge floating black sphere surrounded by six other people and a dog.

The two behind the sphere looked like yakuza. Their tan faces were rough and dirty; while one's clothing made him look homeless and the other had a white suit on.

At the right corner beside the yakuza, there was a green-haired pale teen wearing a fluffy brown jacket. He sat hugging his knees, as he looked down at the floor solemnly.

Resting their backs on the glass walls, a young blond girl and an old man glanced at us with interest. The girl wore a purple hoodie and blue jogging pants, which matched her eyes of the same color. The old man wore a hospital gown, but looked healthy despite his old age.

To Kaneki's left there was a man in a black office suit, his hair was formed into a bowl-cu. The man looked awkwardly at Kaneki and Rize, as he fidgeted and small drops of sweat ran down his forehead..

"I, I mean… S, seriously. This… What is this?!" Rize looked at Kaneki with curiosity after he began yelling. Then, she tilted her head slightly with a frown. "Does anybody know what's going on?!" Kaneki's panicked voice was heard loud and clear. He looked everywhere for answers, but got none. His eyes diverted from face to face with worry and tears at the corner of his eyes.

"Would you shut the fuck up you little wimp!" The homeless gangster stood and roared with a glare.

"W, what?" Kaneki winced at the sudden yell. His heart beat faster by each step the man took towards him. The man with a bowl-cut tried to calm the ganster down, but was shoved to the ground. Kaneki looked desperately at the other gangster, who sighed and looked away.

"ARE YOU FUCKING IGNORING ME?! YOU LITTLE TWAT!"

The tone of the voice was nostalgic to Kaneki. It belonged to the type of person who would vent out his anger on others. Although he despised such people and wanted to say so, he didn't have the courage to do anything else than beg for mercy.

"I, I'm s-sorry!" Kaneki cried loudly, but his plea for forgiveness only angered the man further.

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP, DIDN'T I?!" The homeless gangster yelled at Kaneki, inches away from the boy. His arm retracted to charge up a punch aimed at Kaneki's face. Kaneki yelped and rose his hands to block the attack. But...

"Huh?"

Kaneki opened his eyes after seconds of not feeling the pain. In front of him, he saw the purple-haired girl in the pretty dress stand in front of him. She had blocked the punch without effort.

"Rize-san…" The familiar name left Kaneki's mouth as a mutter. It startled him. 'Huh?...Who?!'

Kaneki's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't know the girl, yet knew her name. Worse, the name sounded so familiar when it rolled on his tongue. He realized that a chunk of his memory had vanished. The last memory he could recall was from about 2 weeks ago.

"YOU BITCH! YOU DARE STAND IN MY WAY?!" The gangster retracted his fist and tried to punch again with his other fist. It was easily blocked like the previous time and Rize showed no signs of effort. The gangster looked like he was struggling. He fell to the floor on his knees, still agonised by the tight grip on his fist. A crunching sound came from his first."ARGH! LET ME GO YOU CRAZY BITCH - ARGH!"

The gangster in the white suit watched in surprise, astonished. He was about to stand up, but decided not to help. He clicked his tongue, sat down and looked the other way.

"OI! OMAR YOU BASTARD! HELP- ARGH!" The homeless gangster yelled at his friend, whom glanced back with a troubled expression.

"STOP!"

Kaneki looked back at the new voice and saw a male teenager by the doorframe. The teenager was wearing a high school uniform without his jacket. He had shoulder-length hair that was rolled back. Behind him, inside the hallway, there was another teenager with auburn colored hair.

"Why?" Rize turned to look back at the teen with an apathetic expression. She tilted her head in confusion and refused to let the gangster go. Her eyes stared coldly at the teen, not unlike how the tone of her voice had been.

"Because you're hurting him!" The teen exclaimed. The teen with auburn hair put hand on his friend's shoulder and tried to calm him down.

"Kato! That man tried to punch this little kid," He pointed at Kaneki while still looking at Kato with a frown. He then pointed at Rize."She simply tried to protect the kid"

Kato frowned. He scratched the back of his head and let out a heavy sigh out. A short red-haired girl wearing a jacket appeared at the auburn-haired teen's side.

"What's going on…?" She said in a soft and timid voice. The only thing she wore was the jacket from high school uniform.

"Nothing. It's just…Okay, I know I'm not one to talk, since I almost strangled the man a while ago. But could you please let him go? I really would like us all to stop fighting so we can cooperate with each other." The others snorted at Kato's response, except for the bowl-cut man and Kato's friend.

Rize looked intensely at Kato, but eventually replied with a shrug of the shoulder.

"Okay"

She let the man go and fall on the sphere behind him. Because of the pain, he lost his balance and failed to prevent his fall. The slight cracking of bones were heard when the back of his head collided with the sphere. He slid off to the floor on his knees and face-planted on the wooden floor.

"...Whatever" Kato scowled at Rize, while she ignored the act and walked towards Kaneki. She firmly walked firmly on her heels and made her pretty dress flutter. The white part was fluffy and expanded for a bit, just enough so it blocked her underwear from sight.

"Can I sit here?" Rize looked at Kaneki with puppy eyes, which he couldn't resist.

"O, okay" Kaneki stammered.

Rize sat inches away from Kaneki, enough for their shoulders to touch each others. Kaneki composed himself and sat with his legs crossed. The sweat on his face began to dry and his pulse began to calm down. He looked away from Rize and sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Rize-san" Kaneki whispered, as he looked back at Rize with a thankful smile. She stared at him expressionless and rested her head against his shoulder. While Kaneki couldn't see her expression, she smiled sweetly.

"You too. Thanks" Kaneki said to the auburn-haired teen. The teen's eyes widened, but returned to normal quickly.

"No problem. It was nothing." He showed a bitter smile and responded nonchalantly.

The homeless gangster was still unconscious, although Kato shook him several times. After getting no response though, he gave up. Kato sat against the wall behind him with the half-naked girl. She leaned against him and crossed her arms along Kato's. The light heat on his face was visible to Kaneki, who looked at Kato with an understanding look. In queue, Rize moved and crossed her arm along Kaneki's.

"Tch"

Kaneki heard several persons become annoyed and saw the jealous expressions on them. Even the dog looked a bit jealous. The dog rushed at the red-haired girl and began licking her.

She yelped as she tried to contain her blush. Kato stared stunned for a brief moment, before he managed to remove the struggling dog. Kato's friend seemed unfazed by the act and joked with a chuckle.

"You suppose that this dog belonged to some lonely office lady, huh?"

An abrupt song echoed the room. Everyone around the ball jumped a bit in shock, except for the boy in the corner.

"A New morning has come,

A Morning Full of Hope~

Open Your Hearts with Happiness,

And Look at the blue sky~

Listen to the voice from the radio,

With an open heart~

Turn your face to the fresh winds,

Now! 1... 2... 3…~!"

The creepy, yet cheerful electronic song had originated from the black sphere. Everyone stared shocked at it, except for the boy in the corner. They stood up and looked at the sphere, some even touching it.

The mutters of "What the fuck…" and yells of "What the hell?!" made Kaneki go look for himself. Rize followed behind him.

The bowl-cut man in a suit stared at the ball for some time, before he himself spoke. "What the… Is it coming from this ball?" He stared blankly at it before he began laughing. "See! I told this was some kind of TV-Show! Watch, the TV-crew is gonna come in any time now! They probably even broadcasted this to the entire country!" He exclaimed proudly, forcing himself to believe his own words.

Kaneki didn't believe the man's poor excuse. After all, he had… died?

Images flashed before him again, but he was only able to capture one image. On the image, the sight of his dead body covered in blood and dust was visible. He was leaning against a wall made of red bricks. Beside him there was a trail of blood, which led to a pile of construction beams on top of a corpse. Through the cracks among the beams, the corpse's hand with broken, fake and long fingernail tried to reach outside.

'Yes, that's right. I had died that night. Yet, how am I still alive?' On the sphere, all the answers he needed awaited him.

"T, there's some writing here. You r?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What the hell is this crap?!"

"What's it trying to say? The E's and S's are backwards."

"What the hell? Ahahaha"

"It must be looking for laughs. Maybe it's Denpa Shonen?" The blond girl hummed nonchalantly. "Either someone's playing Jack-In-The-Box, or this is some other station's knock off show"

The blond-haired girl crouched before the ball. The bowl-cut man leaned to read the script on the sphere. They both tried to understand what the sphere was trying to say. The gangster stood beside the unconscious man, showing an expression of confusion and anger. Meanwhile, the auburn-haired teen had slided his hand on the ball to feel it, as he went towards the back of it.

"Those words may seem really stupid and nonsensical… But if you take them seriously, aren't they pretty scary?"

The bowl-cut man and blond girl tried to ensure themselves that this was a prank. Yet, Kaneki trembled in fear and fell down on his knees. He looked down at the wooden floor, which became soaked with his tears and sweat.

"Y, you're kidding right? This- This is a dream right? R, right?"

Kaneki's voice trembled as much as his body. Hadn't it been because of the previous events and the memory that he recovered, he wouldn't have believed it.

"Your Lives Have Ended.

How You Use Your New Lives

Is Now Entirely Up To Me"

Rize patted his back and crouched beside his pitiful form. She looked at him with a frustrated frown, frustrated at not knowing what to do to help Kaneki. He heard snickers directed his way and rude comments from the blond girl.

"Ha, the kid's already broken up already. Wonder when the TV-crew will come and console him. Haha!"

They didn't know. They didn't realize it, but this situation wasn't a joke. Even if this was a extremely well-made prank, the pain of Kaneki's dying memory was definitely real. The feeling of blood gushing out of his body uncontrollably and the pain on his shoulder that missed flesh was not fake.

'There was no way that this can get worse,' Is what he thought. 'Even if I died, I'm alive now. So it wasn't all that hopeless right?... Right?'

"WHOA! What's that? Haha, that's nastyyy!"

"Onion Alien huh? Talk about weak!"

Kaneki felt Rize shake his back slightly. He glanced at her briefly, exhausted of crying, and recovered himself into a sitting position. He drove his tears and sweat away with back of his arm, yet couldn't do the same with his feelings. Rize looked sadly at him, as she could still his horrified expression.

"Look" Rize pointed at the sphere and Kaneki followed her finger's direction. He looked at the sphere and took the new information with an exhausted expression.

"You Schmucks Will Now Go Out And Defeat This Person"

A kid with the face of an old man and light green skin was visible on a square on the sphere. To it's right, there was information about about their target - the supposed alien they were supposed

"Green Onion Alien"

Characteristics: Strong, Smelly.

Likes: Onions, Friendship.

Quote: Onions Are Enough For Me!

"Do you suppose that there's going to be some kind of game?"

'Yes' Kaneki wanted to say, but left it as a thought. He didn't have the energy or courage to say anything.

"Weird! What is that thing?!" The girl yelled.

"Maybe we'll get to get outside. Think so?" Behind her, the old man in a hospital gown asked a question.

Kaneki's eyes widened at the question. He stood up forcefully in a hurry and rushed to the hallway from where Kato had come from. A crazed smile was visible on Kaneki, as he ran towards a certain door. His balance was off and he was about to fall anytime soon, due to the missing energy in his legs.

Kaneki's mouth was agape, as he crashed against the door. He tried to open the door, but was sent back instead and fell on his butt. Startled, he stood up again and tried to open the door again. Strangely, a force kept his hands away.

"I can't touch the handle? No, nononono, ahahaha... This joke... Please stop it. This, this dream is wrong." Kaneki broke out with tears and attempted to touch the handle once more. He repeated the cycle, over and over again, soon going crazy from doing the action. But he didn't. He felt soft hands embrace his back, only serving to agitate him further."Get away from me!"

Kaneki pushed whoever had touched his back, but it wasn't effectful as the force against him was too strong. He opened his eyes and met the sweet bitter smile of Rize. He loosened the tight grip that he had on her dress and looked down in shame.

"I'm scared… I, I'm really scared. I want to go home… Go home to Hide"

His body crumbled on itself and Rize caught him with ease. Kaneki heard footsteps at the door frame, but was too sad to care.

Rize calmed him down by embracing him while he cried. She made him feel more at ease. He felt a warm feeling in his heart, which he had only experienced with two people before. His best friend, Hide and his mother.

"Mom… "

Kaneki wept out unconsciously, as his vision became blurred by the tears covering it. The final tears fell softly from the corner of his eyes onto Rize's dress. Kaneki let out a final sob and began to relax. He felt her soft hand caress the top of his head, just as he fell asleep.

Secretly, he wished that this dream had been real.

* * *

Rize smiled at Kaneki, while he rested on her lap. She couldn't recall any memories, but still retained most of her knowledge. Like the knowledge of being a ghoul, yet not having any memories of eating others. She wasn't shocked or troubled though, since it was all she had to begin with. The second she opened her eyes was the second she had been born. Thus, she could only rely on instincts and the knowledge she had. She felt a strong attachment to the boy and wouldn't leave his side, even if it cost her life.

She stared at the boy's freshly opened eyes and felt him tremble slightly on her lap. When he scurried away, she moved her head back so they would not collide.

"Eeek!"

Her smile had faded away and was replaced with a curious expression. One of her retained knowledge told her that the boy's name was Kaneki. Her Kaneki.

Rize watched the boy, as he tried to speak. Ultimately, he ended asking a question in a confused by timid voice.

"I- Do I- Where am I?"

She felt the urge to do giggle, but didn't exactly remember how it was done. Therefore she opted to look at him with a deadpan and tilted her head..

"What do you mean?" She asked calmly.

The boy felt the opposite of calm, he was panicking. He shouted words and questions everywhere, until he was interrupted by a homeless gangster. Behind the black sphere in the room, which looked like a living room without a single furniture, the man with a dirty and rough face stood up. The savage yelled at the panicking boy and threatened him.

When Rize saw the man move with aggression, she stood up and blocked the punch. Her eyes looked menacing towards the man, as they reflected the anger and jealous feelings that flowed through her.

'He's mine…' Rize assured herself and proceeded to ridicule the homeless gangster. Luckily for the homeless man, she was stopped by Kato before she could further harm than crush his fist.

She moved towards the crying boy and tried crying boy, but it didn't help. This made her feel troubled, as she hated to see the boy hurt. Had she not known that she was a ghoul, then she would have most likely been devastated by these turns of events like Kaneki.

They laid on the hallways leading to the entranced door. Rize sat on her knees, while Kaneki sat in front of her and was embraced by her.

A sudden loud noise of something opening echoed through the apartment, seemingly originating from the living room. Rize was curious, as the sound reminded her of the sound of a can of coffee being opened, although loud and rougher.

"Don't…. Leave me…." Kaneki whispered, just as he fell asleep. The tug he held on her dress loosened, his hands weren't trembling anymore. Rize smiled sweetly at him. Seeing him so defenseless made her stomach to rumble quietly and made saliva drool by the corner of her mouth.

'I'm hungry…'

She licked her lips to prevent the saliva from falling onto Kaneki. She shook her head violently to get a grip of herself. She restrained her craving urges and avoided falling into temptation.

Screams erupted from the living room, just as loud as the noise from before. They were pleas for help and panicking shouts. The sounds had stopped the earlier voices from further communication. The loudest and last voice screaming belong to the man with a bowl cut.

"HEEEEEEEELP! HEELP -!"

His plea was interrupted abruptly and replaced with silence. Rize couldn't make out what the rest were talking about. They were talking with low tones, shocked at whatever had happened.

"Disappear-"

Rize glanced at the doorframe with a confused expression. The word "disappear" had been used by them several times, but she didn't quite catch one why.

"A, am I disappearing too now?"

Rize witnessed Kaneki not being able to touch the door's handle. Thus, she was confused as to what they meant. She listened more carefully. Thanks to her Ghoul abilities, her hearing was slightly enhanced.

A buzzing sound overlaid their voices. She had thought of it as something in her mind, but that was proving wrong after it didn't go away. The buzzing sound could be best described, as if someone had been using a typewriter that utilized lasers to write. She scowled.

"Tch"

She decided to ignore the sounds and focus on Kaneki instead. When she did, a buzzing sounded originated from in front of her. She looked for the source, startled, but found nothing.

Suddenly, Kaneki's body followed the trace of beaming lasers that appeared from nowhere. They landed rapidly on various parts of his body. From the top to the bottom, they followed a ziczac movement. Right to left, down, left to right, down and so it continued the cycle. Kaneki's body followed the lasers, disappearing bit by bit, until he disappeared into thin air.

Feeling his weight leave her, she watched stunned with an agape mouth. Her Kaneki had escaped in front of her and she was unable to do anything.

"Kaneki…?" She asked, shivering slightly in her voice. When reality hit her, she became infuriated. She gritted her teeth, tightened her fists and glared. She stood up slowly, her silky and wavy hair covering her face entirely.

She strolled through the hallway, until she reached the doorframe. Her hand touched the doorframe, right as she was about to enter. But she stopped. In front of her, two teens were arguing.

The male teen had medium-length auburn hair, which waved to the one side of his face. He was completely naked and blushing, hard. He stared baffled when he saw the purple-haired girl.

The female teen had short red hair, which was straight and seemed to follow a wave. She was half-naked with only a single piece of clothing on her, a high school uniform's jacket. She blushed, as she looked away from the naked boy. After meeting Rize's glare, she gulped.

"You two," Rize spoke with an intimidating and confident voice, yet soft and sweet. A smile appeared on her lips. as she unconsciously formed a smile on her pink lips. She was being passive-aggressive. "You are going to tell me exactly what's going on." She stated, defying no as an answer.

They didn't dare to disobey. The half-naked girl nodded. The naked boy saw her action and rapidly thought of an answer to Rize.

"W, well… " He stared awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, while he covered himself with the other hand. As he was about to continue, it became his turn to disappear.

The beaming lights appeared again. This time, they originated from the black sphere. The boy's upper head had disappeared, almost instantaneous. He scrambled down on the floor and looked for his suit.

"Aw… shit!" He exclaimed.

Rize looked at a black suit on the floor, right a few centimeters from the boy's reach. She kept on looking for a moment and ignored the yelp of the half-naked girl. After the boy caught the suit he had been looking for in panic, the front of the sphere became visible to Rize.

"Please Wait

00:55:07"

The clock ticked down by the second, making Rize figure out the situation.

The supposed reincarnation of everyone who had supposedly died, as the bowl-cut man had said when she first appeared here. Being told that their new lives were entirely up to the being that had brought a miracle upon them, and that they were ordered to defeat a supposed alien…

Even the biggest idiots should have been able to connect the dots.

The being wasn't a good willed god, but a mastermind who loved to mess with his preys. Like a sadistic ghoul, who enjoys watching his prey suffer before being eaten up, the mastermind had planned this in order to replicate that feeling.

Beaming lights were directed at her and began to follow the usual routine. She was determined to protect Kaneki and make it through with both alive. Her determination of beating this death game was set clear in her mind. Thus, she opened her eyes to view the new world.

The world of Gantz.


	3. Chapter 2 - Explosion!

**AUTHOR NOTE:** **So eto what to say. I forgot again XD This chapter hasn't been edited, as it was just sitting there and waiting to be edited so it's probably shit tbh. But I don't think I'll work too much on this rather than my own stuff, so I decided that you guys might as well get it. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Hide…"

Kaneki mumbled and was slightly muffled by the pillow he laid on. His body rolled towards his left under the sheets, but was stopped by the weight that laid on his chest. The soft but heavy object was unknown to the boy and disturbed his sleep state.

His eyes opened slowly to greet the lamp in the room. He became confused at the sight of the familiar sight. The same lamp that used to greet him every time he woke up in his room. It was special, since it had a few unique stickers and decorations hanging on it.

"Huh…? Just a…"

The boy stopped his relieved voice from finishing the sentence. As he spoke, he became aware of the strange weight laying on his chest and decided to investigate it. After taking a quick peek at the source of the weight, he became reassured that his "dream" had not been a dream. To the left, he spotted a chair with a strange black suit dangling from it. On top of the weird suit, a big toy-like black gun rested quietly.

"Hey early bird"

After looking at the source, he was met with the person that was the source of the weight on his chest. It was of course Rize, whom wore nothing but her revealing pink underwear. Thankfully, he noticed that he still had his shirt on. This helped to make himself belief that nothing had happened, even if it hadn't been the case. No, he didn't want to think of that. Just the mere thought made him sure that blood would gush out of him from everywhere, instead of just his tiny nose. Honestly, he didn't know how the boiling blood around his cheeks managed to contain themselves without exploding.

"H, hello…"

He stammered awkwardly as he tried to look away from her breasts, since they were tempting him even though they were small. The girl giggled at his reaction and settled with a smile at him in the end. The smile widened as she kept looking up at him, until it eventually looked lustful and seductive.

"So…"

The dangerous voice ringed through Kaneki's ears, making him feel so good but awkward. His body was reacting like a normal male teen's body would, but he was still feeling very uncomfortable by the feelings. After a shiver went through his spine, he noticed a lower part specimen do the same before standing up. Soon after, he felt one of her hands trace down his body towards the rising specimen.

"D, did you sleep well?"

He interrupted her and even chuckled awkwardly. Of course, the response he received by the lustful creature wasn't quite a positive one. Nevertheless, she let it go. Her hand returned to lie on top of his chest and began to move in circles. As if her finger was a stick drawing circles on sand, she looked down at her actions with a pout. She continued in silence for brief moment, before responding with a muffled and disappointed voice. If he could see her face clearly, which was pressed against his chest, he would have seen her pouting.

"Yeah…"

Kaneki wasn't sure about what he should be feeling, with a part of him even regretting that he had stopped her. But before such thoughts could weigh too much in his mind, he shook his head rapidly to each side. After doing so, he continued to interact with his savior. He cupped his chin with his free hand, which laid by the opposite side of Rize.

"M, me too!"

After exclaiming cheerfully and forcefully, he was reminded once again of the atrocious acts and scenes that he had experienced the night before. The memories haunted him greatly and he wasn't able to move on. Unfortunately, he would perhaps not be able to move on from such event, since they brought massive changes to his everyday life. Everyone who somehow managed to survive became haunted like him.

Haunted by the world of Gantz.

* * *

It was night, alike the view they could see from the apartment through the glass doors. Around them were several stone fences guarding the wooden houses behind them. Some parts of the fences were replaced with entrances to the respected properties, some using a gate and others only using an empty space. All the buildings looked like the average house, which would be occupied by the average families in Japan.

The neighbourhood had a path that was straight towards a pair of staircases, but was split off to several other paths behind the people. Other than that, the only things to take notice off was the atmosphere.

The people, whom were teleported from the room with the black sphere, were relieved to be alive and out of the room they had been in. They were still in denial about the situation, some even yelling that they would go home to nearest station. The homeless gangster was now awake, albeit confused as to how they got outside.

His anger rose when he saw Rize crouching by Kaneki's side. He wanted to get revenge for the humiliation and the best thing he could come up was to defile her. Like the savage he was, he grinned madly at the thought of hearing her cries and begging for forgiveness as her boyfriend watched the cruel act. After running his imagination wild, he walked to the other gangster and whispered at him behind the others.

The brown-haired boy had his self-esteem crushed, when the blond-girl told him that his genital was small. Of course, he ran to the nearest cover even before she said this. As he ran to a nearby garage and took the black suit on, he could hear the yells of the gangsters and the blond-haired girl.

"What a fucking faggot!"

The other high-schooler had looked disappointed at his friend, but he was explained by the red-haired girl about the situation. In her timid voice, she assured him several times that it was a misunderstanding. The boy took of his clothes, because the suit was too tight with them on, but he forgot about the girl in the room.

"Why didn't you take the suit on?"

Kato asked her with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Well… That's because..."

Sweat rolled down her forehead and she gulped, before pointing at Rize as she talked with Kaneki. She was about to say that she had intimidated her and made her forgot about it, but realised that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell Kato.

"She and the boy were occupying the hallway to the entrance and…"

"You were too shy… Right?"

"Y, yeah…"

"Geez. Oh well, what's done is done."

His right hand scratched the back of his head and sighed before letting the subject go. Although he suspected that the reason had been another thing, they had to move on and cooperate.

Kaneki expressed his thanks to Rize, even apologizing for any rude behavior that may have expressed while freaked out. Rize simply smiled at him sweetly and responded with a nonchalant "No problem".

She wanted to do something akin to laughing, but once again didn't remember what I was called nor how to express it. Google? Gogle? Hmm, not quite. Gigle- Giggle! She remembered how to act the verb and attempted to replicate it.

"You're so cute"

Her thoughts drifted of her mind and traveled through the cracks in the hand, which covered her mouth lightly. Once she recognized her own voice, she wanted to giggle again. Mostly due to the reaction of the melting boy.

"I. Um. T, thank… you…?"

Rize chuckled as she stood up and motioned the boy to follow her. Kaneki stood up and looked at his surroundings. They were the same as before, except for that the people had gone towards staircase. He noticed a sharp glare directed at him from the back of the group, produced by the homeless gangster.

When he was about to ask if they should follow, he felt a sudden warm feeling surrounding his hand in a tight but soft grip. Although the owner made clear that she wouldn't let go, it still made sure be careful not to hurt the boy. Taken a bit back by the bold move, he mumbled gibberish.

"Let's go"

The girl dragged her damsel in distress, whom quickly complied without any resistance. He had simply been baffled and become more curious towards the previous relationship they could have had before this incident.

"Okay…"

They walked hand by hand towards the group and easily caught up. Once they were behind the bowl-cut man and the corner kid, Rize could hear slight whispering. Albeit it wouldn't be necessary to mention, since the bowl-cut man had literally spilled the beans.

"TEN MILLION YEN?!"

He nearly jumped as he shouted loudly in shock. Despite the clear energy contained in him, the corner kid didn't seem to share his energy.

"Aww, maan. I told you not to say it out loud"

The corner kid whined and looked down at the people, whom were looking at what the commotion was about. This resulted in them some stupid and/or obvious questions.

"Ten million yen?"

"So it some kind of TV-Show?"

"Yeah"

He answered with a chill in his voice, similar to the vibe his dark green-hair gave off.

"How do you know that?"

The blond girl asked like usual, somehow still believing all the alien and death stuff to be nonsense.

"My dad… Is the producer"

"Whoa! Are you serious?!"

Despite the tone in her voice and expression on her face, she still believed the kid more than the black toy ball. It was necessary for her to think clear and keep her sanity.

"The game prize is 10 million yen."

"Game…?"

She and the others looked at the toy-like black guns made of plastic, which several of them held in their hands. Some of them looked like pistols with a big round cylinder used as barrels, while other looked like rifles or shotguns. The blond girl herself one of the pistols dangling from her left pocket, while she held one of the shotguns firmly with her hands.

"A reality game show co-produced by an American cable channel. The plan was originally created at Yale."

"Yale?"

The green-haired hummed approvingly with a silent nod, before he continued his explanation calmly.

"Think of it like a mix of some of the best and/or popular science fiction shows about aliens. Of course, through the beauty of hypnotism they also managed to make this into a reality TV show!"

"What?"

"Wait- wait- wait. That's bullshit!"

The brown-haired teenage, whom wore the spandex black suit, exclaimed the thoughts that Kaneki had. They both seemed to agree that the previous bizarre incidents had been to real. And although the latter wanted to belief the corner kid's words, he just couldn't.

"I mean… Even for hypnosis, it just seems too real!"

"... Have you ever been hypnotized?"

The brown-haired boy flinched at that question, but soon found a good response. Even if he stuttered a little with uncertainty.

"N, no- But what about our near-death experiences? Weren't we all just… about to die?"

They were all wondering about that, even if most of them outright refused the possibility of such a thing occurring. Over the course of time, they started believing that they weren't dead but just under some weird hypnotism. For normal people such as them, it was only obvious that they stuck to every bit of normality left. The fear beyond rational limits forced them to do so.

But…

"I agree…"

Unexpectedly, the timid boy raised his free hand up in the air. Once he noticed that everyone was staring at him, he diverted his eyes at ground and scratched his cheek nervously.

"I, I mean… I can clearly remember the pain I felt when I died.. Can hypnotism really fool the brain that much?"

The corner kid furrowed his eyebrows and glared lightly at Kaneki. After the victim of his glare had shrunk in size, he sighed and gave up.

"Believe what you want… but think. Were you approached by someone weird right before your death?"

The boy in the suit widened his eyes, but Kaneki simply frowned. There was still huge gap in his memory and the only memories of the day he died was the moment he died. Before he could speculate further, he felt soft lips fall on his ear and whisper carefully.

"Don't listen to him. Just follow me, okay?"

He nodded without looking at Rize, his voice decided to accompany the nod with a confirming hum. His eyes didn't look at the ground anymore, but now looked at the back of the intimidating kid.

"Well, for those who want to become rich… Should I tell you the rest?"

"Y, yes please!"

The bowl-cut man was awkward as ever, but seemed to spark with a bit of courage. He tried his best to look confident and ready, despite not being able to get rid of his awkwardness.

"Heh, easy money is always nice. Right, Omar?"

"Hell yeah! I can't wait to spend those money on some girls who won'the whine haha!"

The gangsters were estastic about the event. They joke around and were confident on winning. And although the blond girl shared their excitement, she didn't quite show it.

"Whatever"

The rest either frowned or simply didn't care. The old man kept grumbling on about how it was going to be difficult to get home this late.

"The premise is that there are criminal aliens here on earth, unbeknownst to us. You have been scouted by a secret government organisation to beat the aliens."

"Pfft, that sounds retarded!"

The blond-girl snorted at the explanation.

"So basically, we just have to catch the actor playing the alien and we get 10 million yen?"

They wondered and were instantly answered.

"Yep, just look at this"

The corner-kid flicked out something out from his wrist. After it landed attached to the top of his under-arm, it became clearly visible. The item was a tiny machine with a small screen and a few buttons on each side.

"Oooh"

The alien hunters gathered around him and looked at the tool. It was a GPS of sorts, which showed a map and their current position. Nearby, a few one blocks away there was a red dot visible.

"Wow, it's near… wait, is that- Shit!"

The homeless gangster ran down the stairs after taking a closer look at the GPS. Behind him, the other followed him after realizing the same as him. They all desperately shoved each other as they spurted towards the target, with the only calm person being the corner-kid.

"WE ONLY HAVE 1 HOUR LEFT!"

Kaneki noticed the boy glance back at him with a scowl, before he vanished from their view like the others in front of him. One of them had dropped a pistol before making a turn to the left, which had an Y shape like a crossbow.

"..."

Silence was the only thing left after the maniacs had left.

"What should we do Kei-can?"

Kato broke the silence, by asking someone. He looked towards the vanished people by the edge of the stairs, so it was unclear as to whom he had asked the question.

"This is silly… I'm going home"

The old man dragged his legs down the stairs and headed off to the nearest station. Rize pulled Kaneki's hand and dragged him there as well. While being dragged, he looked behind at the brown-haired boy talking with Kato. He assumed that he was Kei.

"We should go home too"

Rize followed the old man, as she remembered hearing him say he was going to take a train home. She didn't ask Kaneki, because she felt unsettled about talking about trains with him. Also, she wanted him to rest as much as possible. She truly was protective of him.

"But Rize-San… Where do you live?"

Her feet stopped in it's track and Kaneki felt like he had stepped on a mine. She turned towards him not with sorrow or anger, but with a wide joyful grin.

"Well I don't remember. So I'll just live with you"

"U, Um.. Okay"

Kaneki doubted that he would be able to survive the rising temperatures on his cheeks. Even more so when he a it would inevitably happen more than once later on, probably accompanied by many cases of nosebleeds bound to come. But he had to return her earlier favors someway, so he complied. Plus, he admitted that she was…

"Pretty..."

The timid whisper left his mouth without realizing, until the sound of his whispers echoed in his ears. He begged that Rize hadn't heard that, but was severely disappointed when he saw her expression. She had a smug smile on her face and licked her seductive pink lips. Her body neared his own as they stood side by side and she boldly pressed her body onto his own. After having captured his arm with her own, she leeched on him while they walked.

"Cute"

That light teasing was enough to make Kaneki want to faint.

Kurono Kei wasn't a smart kid, nor was he a dumb one. That's right, he wasn't good or bad at anything specific. He was an average high school teenager, without anything going on for him other than his dirty magazines. His friends tended to be on the more nerdy side, while his enemies were the usual delinquents an average high school would have. His social skills were average too, so he usually didn't get harassed by them as much as the others. Plus, they didn't find it as fun to ruin an average guy.

The teen always wondered how he had become so average. He used to be a brave hero that defended the weak from bullies, albeit that was way back in elementary school. The boy would always lure the bullies away from their victims, by either mocking or hitting them and running away after that. He was called brave by the other kids, due to the ways he managed to escape. He had jumped a whole set of staircases many times to escape, as well as that one time where he jumped onto a passing truck from a bridge.

After being forced to unwillingly become a brave hero once again, he met a not so average death. He had met his long lost childhood-friend, Kato, but didn't have a joyful reunion. Kato had jumped down on the tracks to save a drunk homeless man, but found it difficult to move the unconscious man himself. So, he obviously asked Kei to help. At first, Kei pretended not to know him. But after being called out, everyone nearby demanded that he helped Kato. In the end he couldn't take the pressure and was forced to unwillingly help. Of course, they both died.

But after dying, he witnessed many bizarre occurrences. And he wondered if he once again could become the brave hero, which he once proudly was.

The answer was yes.

Although the task he had been granted by Kato hadn't been too difficult, he still tried his best to follow the half-naked girl home. They followed behind Rize and Kaneki, whom made Kurono feel jealous. He also wished that the girl beside him would leech onto his side, but that didn't seem like it would happen anytime soon- if at all. They both walked silently for the most part, but Kurono attempted to start a conversation. One part due of his teenage hormones and the other due to boredom.

"So… what do u usually do in your free time?"

Whenever he attempted to talk to her, she would either reply with a short sentence while looking solemnly at the ground. Her voice had even begun to copycat her solemn look.

"Free time…?"

Her eyes and head averted slightly upwards, just enough so she could see Kurono's face for a brief moment. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit and she frowned confused. The expression made Kurono feel awkward and unsure as to what to say.

"Well…"

He scratched side of his cheek and looked up at the sky to avoid the girl's gaze.

"Y, you know… Stuff you do when you are not at school, work. studying or doing chores..."

"... You can do that?"

She wondered while holding her mouth agape in surprise, which had even spread to her equally as surprised widened eyes. Her voice put emphasis on every word she said, almost as if to reassure herself that it wasn't a lie.

"Yeah…?"

Kurono talked as if the answer should have been more than obvious, but was a bit hesitant while speaking in hopes that she had just been joking. After his baffled response, she muttered ah simple word before going mute again.

"Oh...:"

Kurono felt awkward and confused as to what had occurred. His mind was completely blank, but at the same time filled to the brim. While he looked as if his mind was blank on the outside, he had been wondering about countless of things at the same time.

Why was the girl so strange? Was she stupid? Was she a foreigner? Or simply too scared? Why did she like Kato? Wasn't he supposed to be a brave hero again?

Those thoughts were quickly replaced, by the thought of her body. While her face wasn't as good looking as Kaneki's girlfriend, her voluptuous body made up for it. Speaking about Kaneki...

' _To think that guy got such a hot girlfriend…'_

Whether Kaneki remembered or not, he had once been saved by Kurono back in elementary school. They met at a playing ground located at park, which would usually be filled with children from their schools. Kaneki was being dragged off by some big children, whom were probably a few years older than them. But because Kurono was such a brave hero back then, he managed to save him from the big bullies.

At first, the similarities in their looks and personalities made him think about the boy. He only first started believing that it was the real Kaneki, when he saw him cup his chin the same way the Kaneki would do. Kurono had always wondered what the habit meant and/or how it even started.

Should he try and talk to him? They hadn't been good friends, but a situation like this- they could quickly bond. Nevertheless, he simply needed something to distract himself with.

"Kaneki!"

Kurono wrapped his hands into a circular shape and surrounded his lips with them. He yelled several times, as he ignored the raised eyebrows from his companion, before Kaneki seemed to hear him.

Kaneki turned his head over his shoulder, so he could see the source of the voice. He was a bit confused as to why someone was calling his name, especially since an alarm-like sound had been echoing his head for a while. It became louder with each step he took, so he decided to take a pause. Once he spotted the far away figures behind him, an exploding sound burst from behind him.

Liquid splashed on his body, but he couldn't tell what it was. After looking in front of him again, he was greeted by a beautiful scarlet rose pool. On the middle laid the headless body of the old man, with parts of his mutilated head scattered everywhere. Shocked, he was about to fall on his knees, but Rize grabbed him and pulled him backwards rapidly.

"Huh?!"

His eyes widened in surprise and his voice cracked at the sudden movement. After realizing that he was still alive, he looked at Rize in question.

"Why did you pull me back…?"

He wondered out loud, while he ignored the rapid footsteps that sped towards them.

"Because-"

The owners of the footsteps stopped just as a suddenly as the old man's death. Unfortunately, they also interrupted Rize.

"What the…?! What happen-ned?!"

Kurono shouted his questions to his best abilities, while he tried to endure his current migraine. He had been hearing an alarm echoing his head, but he wasn't affected much by it previously. However, the noise got significantly louder after he had run to the morbid scene.

"I, I don't know- H, his head s-suddenly exploded!"

Kaneki rapidly explained with lots of stutters and pauses. Kurono was curious and confused about how a head could explode, without any traces of evidence towards the cause.

"But how? There must have been something! A bullet?! A bomb?! Maybe you accidentally used one of these guns?!"

This time Kaneki didn't answer, but was instead replaced by Rize.

"We didn't see anything of the sort and we don't have any guns"

"Then ho-?!"

"That."

She pointed at the pool of blood in front of them, with her thin finger extending towards the area where the man's head would have been. Kurono followed the finger as best as he could, but didn't notice anything special. So he decided to investigate more closely.

"I don't see anything…"

Rize began to backtrack their route and dragged a confused Kaneki along. They passed the half-naked girl, who was approaching Kurono slowly.

"R, Rize-San? W, where are we going?"

"I… I don't know"

She frowned deeply, as she thought of the current possibilities. She guessed that they wouldn't be able to escape easily from this death game, especially since the game master had clearly spent a lot of time and effort into this sick project. But still, she still held a tiny piece of hope. Now, there wasn't any other option than to participate or hide. She decided to go for the latter, since it would be the safest option for keeping Kaneki alive. As they backtracked more, the alarm sound got quieter and quieter until it vanished entirely.

Back at the blood pool, Kurono stopped his foot from advancing forward mid-air. His eyes widened in realisation at what Rize had meant and he instantly retracted his foot. He walked backwards, but stumbled on the half-naked girl. They both fell on the floor, with the girl being startled.

"What's wrong…?"

Her voice vanished within the air, just as she saw the morbid scene in front of her. Without hesitation, she received an instantaneous response from Kurono. He pointed with his index finger at the pool of blood, but she wasn't able to pinpoint the exact location.

"There's a chip there… The alarm noise that we've hearing… is most likely the ticking of a bomb inside our heads"

His many grasps for breath didn't seem to get better, just like the girl's fear. Hearing heavy thuds caused by footsteps, with a huge silhouette nearing them from the direction of the corpse, absolutely didn't help either.


End file.
